MSU student participates in international youth conference

When students travel abroad, they often hope to learn more about another culture and see historical sites.

For Aaron Kruse, who graduated from Missouri State University last year with a master's degree in global studies, traveling abroad was about connecting with peers and future international leaders. Kruse attended the 2014 APEC Youth Program in Beijing, China.

"I was selected by a special organizing committee for the program, which is guided by parts of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education," Kruse said. "The selection was made on the basis of background experience and education. There is no doubt in my mind that my work with Model United Nations at Missouri State and the MSU exchange program at Renmin University of China were important in that selection process."

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is an international forum dedicated to "sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region." Once a year, the forum hosts the APEC Youth Program that brings together 21 APEC economies for tomorrow's leaders to share ideas and learn about international diplomacy.

Kruse said the focus of the conference was to give future leaders the skills and background to be effective representatives of their governments. The week consisted of a variety of activities and panels, as well as lectures on major issues within the Asia-Pacific region.

"We had a two-day conference of only the youth delegates where we selected important issues to discuss, broke into working groups and then debated specific policy proposals that APEC could enact to improve cooperation between member economies," Kruse said. "We were especially proud that our ideas on education and internet connectivity were compiled into a final report and presented to the senior representatives of our member economies."

Kruse believes the conference is invaluable — being able to interact with students and young professionals from across the world provides a more global perspective and makes them aware of larger economic issues.

"It isn't often that you can get business owners from Mexico and Peru into a room with students from China and Singapore," he said. "Learning from everybody's unique perspective and the challenges that they face at home really diversified my understanding of APEC and the global economy."

Kruse, a native of Des Moines, Iowa, who also received his bachelor's in political science with minors in international relations and Chinese from Missouri State, hopes to use this experience to contribute to international diplomacy in the future.

By Shay Stowell, University Communications student writer